OK the results of the Drive COTY are online and generally they accord with my grand plan. Generally. I abstained from voting on the Large Car segment because I didnt find either contestant particularly inspiring and because I was holding a candle for the Holden SS-V which I wanted to compare as a "Big Car" rather than "performance Under $60k) - the SS-V is actually slightly longer than the Omega wagon in the "Big Car" class. But it was not to be.The other surprise for me was the overall winner. Whilst I had voted the VW Polo for sheer chutzpah-for-cash I thought the Kia Sportage was sneaking through as the ultimate value proposition.

But the other winner was the location. Flowerdale, about 80 minutes north of Melbourne, is wildlife central. A koala bear walked across the road in front of me - the first Koala I have seen on all fours. No camera at hand I have had to poach a pic from online....but for some strange reason my koala with particularly chunky hind legs and particularly long gangly front ones, reminded me of a transformer from Star Wars. It had been a long day.....

OK so now comparing the two I dont see the similarity.....but the abundance of wildlife in this region of Victoria - wombats on the porch of Flowerdale Estate, echidnas and turtles by the roadside, wallabies in the paddocks - has made me determined to bring my kids back for some Aussie marsupial imersion. Did I mentioned the platypus?